My man is too cute

Now I just gotta find a good spot.

Christchurch

We spent the entire day exploring Christchurch and it was amazing!  Here's what you need to know about Christchurch: On February 22, 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook the city, demolished many of the buildings and killed 185 people.  It was absolutely devastating to the city's residents, none of whom were left untouched.  Five years later, there is still so much structural damage, it's as if the earthquake happened yesterday.  It's really shocking and saddening to see an entire city still reeling from this terrible tragedy.  However, the flower growing through the concrete in this story is that many artists have painted murals and put up art installations, making the entire city a treasure trove of hidden gems, waiting to be discovered among the rubble.  Here's a map of the city, with the pink stars representing all the art projects speckled about:

They're literally everywhere you look and it's amazing!  It really shows how resilient these people are and how ready they are to rebuild their city, taking matters into their own hands to create beauty, even among complete chaos.  That alone makes this city one of the most unique I've ever seen.

First of all, here's our hostel:

It's called Urbanz and it's actually tailored towards workers that have come temporarily to help rebuild the city.  It was a nice change from sleeping in the car like a homeless person, let's just put it that way.

We walked to the center of town, which was very close (everything's pretty close, as the city center area is small) and here's what we saw on the way:

We stopped at this cafe called C1 Espresso, which is housed in the former post office:

We didn't end up eating because the prices were pretty exorbitant and we weren't in the mood for cafe fare.
Kept walking:

Whatever this thing is moved randomly and was kind of mesmerizing:

They're sheep:

We finally stumbled upon this gem:

It was a New Orleans's themed restaurant:

OMG the food was to die for!

I got spicy prawns:

Aaron ordered the pulled pork po'boy:

and we shared a potato salad:

My mouth is watering just thinking about how fantastic that meal was!

Then we kept on walking towards Cathedral Square:

Christchurch Cathedral:

As you can see, it was damaged in the earthquake and hasn't yet been repaired.  Because of this, there is a "transitional cathedral" a few blocks away.  Let's head on over!

Giant oversized lawn-covered furniture?!  What a nifty idea!

We stopped in this tiny shopping neighborhood right next to our hostel:

It was filled with shops and restaurants and this:

Whoa!  Trippy!

We finally made it to the Transitional Cathedral aka the Cardboard Cathedral:

It's called the Cardboard Cathedral because 98 cardboard tubes make up the roof:

You can see them better from the inside:

Cool, huh?

They were rehearsing for some sort of concert inside and we got to hear a young girl sing, which was a nice touch.

We walked down the street:

until we got to this memorial area, where a bunch of people and TV crews were gathered.

Aaron was embarrassed by my picture-taking, but I really wanted everyone to be able to see the Earth-shattering ramifications of what the earthquake has done to this place (both literally and figuratively).

Just heartbreaking.

Across the street from this was the most moving art installation (in my opinion), 185 Empty Chairs:

There is 1 chair for each person who perished in the earthquake, which is already a sad concept in and of itself, but the fact that each chair was unique sort of put a face to the tragedy.  Each person is represented by a chair unique to their personality or life.

You're allowed to sit in whatever chair speaks to you, so I sat in a couple, but it was just way too sad.

Unbelievably moving project, and right on a barren street corner near the center of town.  It's stuff like this that sets Christchurch apart from other cities.
We kind of backtracked towards the City Center again:

We passed Quake City:

 which is a small museum that really tells the whole story (with pictures, video and actual rubble) of the earthquake (and aftershocks).  We didn't go because it was pretty pricey and I don't need a museum if I'm standing in multiple piles of rubble with every step I take.  I get the picture.  Nice try, Quake City.

This was the Bridge of Remembrance:

and the Avon River:

Saw a really colorful bird picking berries off a tree:

Totally iridescent and gorgeous.

This area had a bunch of food trucks and smelled amazing:

I'm guessing they have festivals here, since it's a huge, open, grassy patch.

Victoria's Street is kind of off to one side of the city, but it's the street with a bunch of bars, restaurants and the casino:

A few more random buildings:

Ran into this mural again:

and then called it a day.  We had been walking for hours and were wiped out!
We walked slowly back to the hostel, and passed more camera crews on the way:

I peeked inside this van, just to check it out, but someone spotted me and I ran:

It wasn't until a bit later that we realized what all the fuss was about.  Today was February 22, 2016, the 5-year anniversary of the earthquakes!  We happened to be there on the exact day!  Crazy!  Then it all made sense: the crowds at random spots, the camera crews, lots of the establishments being closed.  We finally understood (wow, a little slow on the uptake there, huh?).

So, that was Christchurch.  We pretty much saw it all.  I can't express enough how important walking is when exploring a city, especially one like this, where there's always something amazing and beautiful hiding in a dark alley or amongst a pile of ruins.  The juxtaposition of the fallen buildings right next to freshly painted murals and art installations are what define this city.  Christchurch was a once thriving metropolis that has now been all but destroyed, but the residents refuse to take that lying down.  They're doing all they can to rebuild, regenerate and most importantly remember.

I hope you enjoyed Christchurch as much as we did!  There's still so much more to see!  Stay tuned!